Workshop on dengue: Teachers trained on how to create awareness among students

ISLAMABAD:

School teachers here on Wednesday were trained on how to create awareness on dengue fever among their students.

The workshop marked the beginning of a campaign that aims to raise awareness on dengue prevention, control and reach a large number of households. It targets students, urging them to adopt better practices in the community. The workshop was conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Health Directorate.

WHO has developed guidelines for school teachers in English, Urdu and Sindhi. The booklet includes easy-to-understand illustrations and messages targeting students and teachers telling them about dengue symptoms, how it is spread, the lifecycle of a dengue mosquito and methods that can be used to prevent the spread of the virus.

At the end of the booklet, an exercise has been given for the students to do on weekends, which includes questions as how they can help their families in preventing mosquito-breeding.

WHO Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response Medical Officer Dr Rana Kakar said the teachers’ resource material is the first WHO-sponsored effort to combine forces between the sectors to combat dengue.

WHO Officer for Vector-borne Diseases Dr Qutbuddin introduced the WHO resource materials for teachers and students called “A Malaria and Dengue -Free Me”, published in both English and Urdu. Preventive measures were demonstrated with props and visual aids. An evaluation was also conducted to gauge the impact of the training on the teachers and how well they understood the ways to raise awareness among the students. Moreover, through the group work and role plays, the participants were given different themes and demonstrated how they would convey the safety messages on dengue prevention.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2011.